


Fourteen Years: The Childhood of Mephilia Venus

by Misedejem



Series: The childhoods of the Duchy of Eternia and Glanz Empire [4]
Category: Bravely Default (Video Game) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Child Death, Childhood Stories, Drugs, F/M, Gen, Growing Up, Parent Death, Suicide mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-31
Updated: 2015-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-10 16:54:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5593783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misedejem/pseuds/Misedejem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before Eternia became an anti-crystalist settlement, Mephilia's sixth sense was too much of a threat to be allowed public. After nine years of confinement, the new and foreign world seemed to hurl all the struggles it could at the girl until she was left defeated and distraught.</p><p>Fourteen vignettes from each year of Mephilia's life between the ages of ten and twenty-four.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fourteen Years: The Childhood of Mephilia Venus

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written in September 2015.

10\. City 

Grown-ups were so tall! It was dizzying, and so very easy to get lost. One minute, your hand would be safely clasped in the hand of your older sister. The next, you’d be washed away into a sea of legs and a flurry of snow. Einheria was gone and the panic began to set in.

Mephilia stumbled about in the snow, the cold numbing her feet and her hands, and the many legs bashing her about as she tried to cry for help.

“Don't be too loud Mephilia, dear. If you're too loud they might find you.” Her father hadn't said that in years, but it was as if he were standing next to her, whispering it into her ear.

Hiding was in the past now, but it still felt too real. Any one of these pairs of legs could be the one to sweep her away to some distant land. She had never been into the city before. She knew nobody.

“If you ever get lost, look for a soldier,” Einheria had instructed.

Mephilia’s hair whipped about her face as she twisted and turned, searching for help. Nobody. She couldn't see a soldier for all the shoppers and workers bustling about her. She began to cry, and in her tears she repeated Einheria’s name, over and over, her voice choked in her own anguished sobs. And then…

Something warm took her around the waist and lifted her, too dumbfounded to move, only able to sniffle. A man. A grown up who was very grown indeed, taller and more muscular than any man she’d ever seen.

“Little Mephilia Venus, is it?” He asked, his accent foreign but familiar. She knew this man. Mephilia nodded. He smiled and even more familiarity struck her. This man worked for the duchy, he worked with Einheria, and Einheria always said she could trust the duchy.

“Lost, are you? I'm a little lost myself, but we’ll get there if we stick together. What say we find your sister?”

In the end, that was how Mephilia met one of her dearest friends.

11\. Fireworks

The Venus family had never been wealthy. They lived on the outskirts of town, in a little cul-de-sac which was always hit hard with the snow. The little money they did have went towards medical bills. Mephilia’s father had always been sickly, and after her mother died, they were forced to move to the big city from their humble little village in order to be closer to a doctor for him. And of course, for years, the Orthodoxy only gave the family funding for two children. Mephilia wasn’t supposed to exist.

Every year there was a fireworks festival that the sisters could never afford to go to. It was back after a year’s hiatus following the complete takeover of the country, and for the first time ever, Mephilia was allowed to illegally watch the fireworks. From the apex of her roof. There was a warm buzz in the air despite it being a freezing, autumn evening, and Mephilia could feel the tingle in her fingertips, spreading throughout her body like the warmth from the mug of hot cocoa she was clasping. She could hardly sit still, and Einheria was having to hold her to prevent her from falling off. It was amazing how a split second of light could be so mesmerising. Einheria and Artemia chattered jovially, laughing and pointing as the fireworks show illuminated the sky, dyeing the snow and the mountains all the colours of the rainbow, if but for a moment before they were plunged back into the inky black of the night. Mephilia gaped, unable to make a noise. She stopped her excitable bouncing, absorbed in the colours. The embers, glistening like stars and drifting like snow, were encapsulating. The noise, the tremulous bangs and the whizzes that shattered the silence, they were all in the distance. There was nothing but the lights, and oh! How beautiful they were. It was almost as if it were magic. Magic like what the scrawny man with the dragons could do, and Einheria’s pretty friend and the mean boy who always said Mephilia was lying.

She decided she loved it.

12\. Valkyrie

“He’s unconscious. Which is a good thing.” Holly Whyte affirmed, biting her lip as she and Victor worked together to set and cast the thug’s broken arm. Even though he was a terrible human being, they couldn’t resist leaving someone injured like that.

“What happened, exactly?” Victor didn’t even look at Mephilia as he addressed her.

She didn’t realise how much she was shaking until she tried to speak and found that her lip was quivering. Her glasses were broken – her father would kill her for that – and her tights were ripped, but she was otherwise unharmed. So why could she not stop quaking?

“He tried to steal her purse. I stopped him. What more is there to say?” Einheria answered in Mephilia’s stead, her voice monotonous and her spear hanging loosely in her hand. Her bun was coming loose, but there wasn’t a bead of sweat on her face, and her breath was coming at a regular pace, her chest barely shifting the sheet of thin armour protecting it. In contrast to Mephilia, red in the face and sticky with sweat, it was as if their roles had been reversed.

Victor and Holly seemed willing to accept Einheria’s explanation, vague as it was. Mephilia couldn’t even begin to elaborate, still in utter shock, though in truth it was far more than that. She couldn’t begin to describe how her sister had descended as if from the heavens, crying out as the man who had Mephilia pinned to the snow turned to meet the tip of her spear. Mephilia didn’t even recall the pain from the man’s brute attack. All she could remember was the fear and the awe, two conflicting emotions that made her shake like a leaf, as her sister’s voice rang out through the bitter air. She could remember no sight, not even the biting cold of the snow against her flesh. Only the sound of Einheria’s threats.

“Lay a hand on my sister and you will never use it again.” Followed by the unwholesome crack as she broke his arm.

_‘I suppose this must be what all her training has led up to… My sister, a soldier.’_

13\. Stories 

It was amazing, Mephilia noted, how easily humans displayed their emotions without opening their mouths. Why, just from the pallor of their skin, she could tell how they were feeling. For example, Holly and Einheria hadn’t changed colour at all, not even a little. They were unimpressed and she’d have to try harder. Victor was very red because she had no doubt made him angry. And Barras and Alternis were white as a sheet, meaning she had done her job. She crossed over to the lamps with her candle, lighting them all to fill the room with more light. The two younger boys stayed tense, and Einheria’s forehead began to crease as it did when she was worried. Holly was grinning now. She found their state amusing.

“Is it really true Mephilia?” Barras squeaked, and Holly lost her self-control, bursting into a bout of laughter.

Mephilia opened her mouth to speak, but naturally she was interrupted before she could.

“Of course not!” Victor scoffed. “There’s no such thing as ghosts.”

She couldn’t even tell a little ghost story as the seasons began to turn and the eeriness returned to the world without him interjecting. One day she would slap him.

“You have no proof,” she replied curtly, staring daggers at him.

“Ghosts and spirits are a figment of legend. They don’t exist. The fact that there is no proof that they are real proves that they aren’t.” He folded his arms over his chest.

Mephilia had to force herself to keep her fists unclenched and her mouth shut. There was a chance she had already gone too far simply by telling the stories in the first place, and now she’d been backed into a corner. In order to defend herself, she’d have to reveal something she wasn’t quite ready to share. No-one besides her family yet knew about the sixth sense, and she was unsure of how they’d react. Holly and Victor, dedicated to a life of science and reason. They sought an explanation in everything, and would scorn the idea of something so mysterious. As for Barras and little Alternis, their reaction to the ghost stories was more than enough proof that the supernatural frightened them. How would they react, knowing she was as closely tied to the spirits and celestials they so feared? Oh, she could tell them. But disbelief and belief both worked against her in this situation. She’d never had any friends as a child besides her family, and she wasn’t about to lose these ones.

“I suppose… Yes, Victor, you’re right…”

She was sure the emotion displayed on her face for all to read would be that of defeat.

14\. Coping

“You just walked into a lamp post! Are you sure you’re alright, dear?”

Mephilia honestly had no idea who was talking to her, or even that there was a lamp post there. Everything was a terrible blur, and she had lost all form of depth perception. She was going to miss being able to see the snow falling and watching the fireworks, and being able to recognise people from afar. But she was never wearing her glasses again.

She slipped on the ice outside her house on the way back from the store, but one of the off-duty soldiers who was making her way home managed to catch her. Einheria asked her where her glasses were, what was in the bag, what the squeal was from outside, but she pretended not to hear. She locked herself in her room and waited.

The dye made the headache from spending the whole day squinting even worse, and she had spilt some over her favourite shawl. Einheria’s shouting made it worse, but she couldn’t even focus on what her sister was saying anymore. If she managed to explain, it was incoherent to her. Was she crying? She couldn’t tell. Her face was streaked with dye and the tears felt the same. Her eyes were blurred and out of focus, and the tears made no difference. She wasn’t entirely sure what happened for the rest of that evening, as all the memories of that terrible day a week past swarmed into her mind and nestled there. She vaguely remembered Einheria’s anger subsiding and cuddling with Artemia on the couch. Einheria had tried to make something with some kind of meat and what may have been potatoes in a thick gravy, but how they tasted was a complete mystery. They didn’t leave each other for the duration of the night. So, the next few days passed in a similar manner and she began to forget the pain had even existed, finding a small patch of clarity in which she could focus on something different. A book, a conversation, her sisters. Anything to take her mind away from it, to shut it out.

Einheria didn’t bring the hair or the glasses up again until later that month when one of the commanding officers complimented the colour. Until then, Mephilia didn’t quite know what she had said to her elder sister that night when she had dyed her hair mint green, only that it had convinced her. However, as Einheria explained, it made sense once more.

“Mephilia was the spitting image of father. When he died, she couldn’t look at herself without being reminded of his face. I can only imagine how painful it must have been for her, seeing someone she would never have back wherever she went. Naturally, she’d want to rid herself of that. If changing her appearance is her coping mechanism, then…” Einheria took Mephilia’s hand and smiled. “I’ll support her decisions, no matter what.”

 

15\. Holiday 

“Think of this more as a holiday than as work. You’ll enjoy it more.”

“Easy for him to say,” Holly muttered in Mephilia’s ear, looking at Captain Heinkel at the head of the group with pure malice. “Who would want to trek through a desert on a holiday?”

“We all know you’d rather be lying on a beach somewhere with a drink in hand.” Mephilia replied, regretting the decision. She couldn’t even manage one sentence without feeling like all the air was being squeezed out of her.

“If you’re serious about being a soldier, you’ll have to get used to hikes like this.” The Knight instructed, his voice even and annoyingly jovial. Mephilia’s legs felt like jelly.

“I think I’ve changed my mind…” Holly wheezed, leaning on Mephilia’s shoulder. She shook her off. It was too hot, and she was too tired to support her.

Mephilia’s eyesight was poor at the best of times, and it was too much effort to lift her head and look about when everything was hazy. She focused on her feet, which were burning from the heat and from the growing blisters. Every so often, she heard one of the people behind her cough or moan in pain.

“Mephilia, wait…” someone pulled her back and she looked up.

And froze.

She didn’t need glasses to realise that Captain Heinkel was nowhere in sight. Nor were half the group. No Alternis, no Barras, no sisters. Just Holly, the scrawny Black Mage with the stutter, the Salve-Maker Qada who had only come because the swordmaster had threatened him, and Fiore DeRosa, who was a very red Red Mage indeed. He moaned something about being lost and Mephilia bit her lip.

“Surely they realised not everyone has the same level of stamina as they do?” Dr. Qada whined as the group moved forwards, trying to navigate their way through the barren desert.

Mephilia felt a sudden want for the Harenan doctors she so despised; at least they would have known where they were going even if they were poor company. They kept their eyes and ears honed, hoping to catch any signs of life. The turret of the Temple of Wind or the ticking of Anchiem’s enormous clock. Nothing.

Eventually, they happened across an Oasis and there had never been so much elation in an otherwise gloomy group. Holly practically jumped in while Crowe began to light a signal fire. Mephilia trailed her feet in the cool water, her stomach churning with worry for Einheria and Artemia. Were they worried? Looking? Did they even realise she was gone? Mephilia wasn’t sure what time they were found the next day by some of Khamer VIII’s royal guard, only that it had been long enough that Qada and DeRosa had been discussing their epitaphs very melodramatically. The rest of the group weren’t overly upset that they’d got lost when they were reunited in the palace, but the rest of the Duchy back in Eternia weren’t best pleased. After all, Braev had introduced a new training program that required all mages and support units to do the same degree of basic physical training as the rest of the duchy soldiers. All because two foolish teenagers and three irresponsible adults hadn’t been fit enough to hike through a desert.

Mephilia and Holly chose not to attend.

16\. Future

The second floor of Central Command was a large, empty room with a wooden floor and a stage. Usually, it was used for assemblies and ceremonies. Today it was being used as a ball-room, and the entire duchy had attended for one reason or another. Most of them were there to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the duchy of Eternia, which coincided with Holly Whyte’s eighteenth birthday. A few of them had merely shown up for the food and the drink. The only officers not present were the Courts, who were working on something important, though Victor had said he would try to attend later in the evening. Mephilia prayed he wouldn’t.

“You’ll be an asterisk bearer for sure, once you graduate next summer.” Einheria was telling Holly, and her voice was full of genuine pride that showed she meant it. Alternis was nodding.

“Without a doubt,” Mephilia added, though she couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. Einheria had never said anything so encouraging to her, and she was her sister. Artemia, who was holding Einheria’s hand, wasn’t showing any sign of the same feelings, but she was nine. When Mephilia was nine, this was the day she and Artemia and father were curled up in their basement together, hoping Einheria would come home triumphant. There was no ambition in her at all back then.

Somebody tugged on her dress and she looked down to see little Edea Lee, beaming up at her. “What do you want to be when you grow up Mephilia?” she asked. She must have noticed Mephilia staring daggers at Holly while everyone was fawning over the future she had. Was it that obvious?

“Oh, er… I haven’t decided yet Edea.” She knelt down so she could make eye contact with her. She was tiny for a girl who was a year away from being old enough to start her training.

“I think you should be a mage,” she told her, swaying absentmindedly on the spot as she pondered. “I’ve seen you do magic, it’s really good! And…” she leant in to whisper in Mephilia’s ear “…You’re the only nice person who’s good at magic, and there need to be more friendly mages.”

“Oh, now… Holly’s nice.”

Edea shrugged. “I guess.”

“Do you really think I could make a good mage?”

“I think you could be an asterisk bearer. Anyway, I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” And she skipped off before Mephilia could reply.

She felt her face burning and she allowed herself to smile. Someone believed in her! Even if it wasn’t her sisters, it was a start. She happily chatted to Barras and Alternis for the next few minutes, completely forgetting that just a moment ago, she had been angry. It was a great feeling, being among a group of people who were so full of joy. She hoped Edea was right. To be an asterisk bearer, an officer, alongside such a wonderful group of people was the dream. However, the celebration was cut short when Edea came running back, tears streaming down her face, which was deathly pale. “Edea? What is it?” Alternis asked, taking her by the shoulders as everyone else came over to see what was wrong.

“I… It’s… I was going to the bathroom and I heard crying coming from the room on the right downstairs and… There was blood everywhere and… Doctor Vincent is dead…”

Mephilia felt her face go cold and her dreams being an officer suddenly seemed very distant indeed as the joy was leeched away from every living soul in the room.

17\. First

The first drink she had ever had was an Eisen beer two years ago at Holly’s house. Captain Heinkel’s sister had shipped them in and Holly had managed to procure some from him. It had burned going down her throat and gave her a throbbing headache. The first time she had ever been drunk was a few weeks later. Five of them had drank far too much and had dealt serious damage to the foyer of Central Command. That was also the first time she had been arrested, and the first time she had ever seen the wrath of Swordmaster Kamiizumi first hand. She didn’t drink much after that.

The first time she ever went to a house party was in the summer of her seventeenth year. It was at Holly’s house and was vastly different from anything she had ever been to before. There was music and half the officers in the duchy had shown up. The last year had been hard on everyone, with the death of a respected figure in the forces and the Grand Marshal’s wife falling ill again. It was nice to see everybody enjoying themselves. It was a moment of bliss in a bleak livelihood. The first time she had ever seen her sister show affection to anyone besides herself and Artemia was at the party when she discovered Einheria was in love. It was the first time she’d seen her sister embarrassed beyond belief too, and the first time she’d seen Holly Whyte struck speechless. Mephilia had quickly left them to it. It was the first time she had ever felt truly comfortable with her sister’s decisions. The first time she had seen Alternis Dim out of his armour was at the drinks table. They had been close friends for years; she didn’t quite trust any of the others her age like she trusted him. He knew what it was like to be isolated, to be shunned. She found solace in knowing that she wasn’t wholly alone. The first time she had ever truly enjoyed a night out drinking was with Alternis Dim, and that was the first time she had ever been kissed. Over the next year, her first date followed. Her first love. Her first swordfight, visit to the Council Chamber, her first intentional all-nighter.

To end it all, though, was her first break-up. She decided to put off dating for a few years after that.

18\. Vocation

If you were the child of a soldier or an officer, or were a young soldier or officer yourself, it was compulsory to receive a basic education alongside your specialised military training. At the age of eighteen, you could take your military training full time unless you wished to embark on a more academic route. Mephilia wanted none other than the highest honour there was. She was going to be an asterisk bearer like her sister. Over the years, she had shown proficiency in both Black and White magic, but she would never trust a medic besides the Whytes again and Black Magic wasn’t her favourite practise. She spent weeks pouring over the different branches of both fields of magic, hopelessly and frantically searching for something she could do. Moon magic, exorcism, ritualism, spirit magic… Nothing. Then, as the futility of it all began to hit her, a chance meeting changed the course of her life.

She had been in Central Command in a desperate bid to find Holly, who was nowhere to be found, when she spotted Alternis having a conversation with a frail, old man by the elevator to the other floors. He probably knew if Holly was around or not, but she couldn’t find an opening to talk to him.

“…Victor and Victoria aren’t in the country right now… Even if they were, I don’t think they’d be interested. I think Victor is far more comfortable with medicine, and Victoria…” Alternis shrugged, his armour clanging as he did.

The old man looked forlorn. “Is there nobody else you can think of? Only I’ve had very little luck in finding someone else, I fear.”

“The only other mages are Whyte, Crowe and DeRosa, and I don’t think they’d be interested either.”

Mephilia furrowed her brow and shifted slightly.

Alternis must have heard this because he quickly turned. After a moment, he pointed at her and exclaimed, “Mephilia!”

“Alternis…” Mephilia smiled awkwardly, pointing back at him. Was this the hip new greeting of the week according to Edea or something?

“Sage, this is Mephilia Venus. She’s a dedicated mage and is currently unaccounted for.” He addressed the old man, whose eyes had lit up. He was grinning and Mephilia suddenly became very aware that he was eyeing her up.

“Ohohoho! Are all the women in your company quite this delightful, Alternis?”

“Oh, gross! Keep away, you old letch!” Mephilia backed away. What was Alternis thinking, talking to a geriatric DeRosa? She had half a mind to fetch Einheria.

“Mephilia, this man is… An ally of ours. He… What exactly is it you’re looking for, Sir?”

“An asterisk bearer, to be precise. I am looking for a skilled mage who would be willing to take a test for the role of Summoner.”

Summoner? Like the anchorites she had read about? The ones like her, who could talk to the spirits and the celestial beings?

“I…”

“Mephilia has… A gift, I suppose? You can see spirits, right? You can talk to them?” Alternis goaded. It was common knowledge now. Anyone who knew her well knew she had been kept hidden from the Orthodoxy for nine years for a reason.

The Sage’s eyes had brightened even more, and he was no longer leering. “Perhaps you and I ought to talk, my dear?”

19\. Training

“I hear she can speak to spirits.”

“I hear she has a connection to the celestial realms.”

“Apparently she sees them.”

Mephilia had been dealing with people talking behind her back since she had started training to be a Summoner. All of the students were advanced in the fields of magic, and they all had prowess in what they did, but none of them had a sixth sense like she did. She was heralded a genius by some, loathed by others, neither of which were preferable. Mostly, people just avoided her altogether. She was showing everybody up in class, and that was unacceptable.

“The crystals emit two waves of magic, studies show…” their professor began to explain.

_‘I can’t believe I’m citing Victor in an exam, of all people…’_

“White Magic is used for healing predominantly, amongst others such as exorcism, though this does not affect us. The Black Magic waves are where the ability to Summon lies. Unlike White Magic, Black Magic requires you to empty your mind of everything but the energy, and maintain your focus on that.”

_‘That weasel Crowe worded it better…’_

Mephilia took to doodling on her paper rather than writing notes for the rest of the session. She knew everything she was being told. Surely it was common knowledge by now? Ah, but she had grown up with the most adept mages in the country. Some of whom loved the sound of their own voices. Being Einheria Venus’ sister had its advantages, because she had the opportunity to meet these people. None of the other students in the room, keenly listening, hanging on to every word or struggling to grasp it, had that kind of experience. Mephilia shrugged and continued to doodle absentmindedly. When she took the practise exam, she still outshone the rest of the class.

20\. Suleiman

Mephilia had never been to a Caldislan port before, and she wasn’t sure she was enjoying herself. It stank of fish and damp, and the gulls seemed attracted to her brightly coloured hair. Apparently she looked like the popular mint leaf-flavoured ice cream. Her arms hurt from constantly beating them away.

She ate an awful fish meal that churned her stomach on the way to the docks to look for a ship bound for Eisenberg so she could fly back to Eternia. The sky was already beginning to turn dark and it dawned on her that she didn’t have anywhere to stay if she couldn’t find a ship by nightfall. Her not-so-leisurely stroll across the pier turned into a powerwalk, her eyes frantically searching for any sign of a sailor. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a burly man by a gargantuan ship and did a double take. For a second… No, it couldn’t be. The man had the same square jaw and broad shoulders as her friend, but he looked younger, and all of his appendages were intact. This was not Hayreddin Barbarossa. But… He was from Caldisla, and the resemblance was spooky. A relative, perhaps? As she dared approach, the giant of a man turned and it became obvious that it was not her friend. His nose was smaller and his eyes were a deep brown, and his hair was longer. Things she would never have seen from afar, not with her eyes. He beamed at her and stepped away from the ship, smearing paint on his overalls before extending a hand to her. She could now see that he had been painting a name onto the side of the massive vessel: ’S.S. Funky Francisca’. She couldn’t help but smile at the inventive, if not ridiculous, name and shook the man’s hand. Paint squelched onto hers, wiping the smile off her face.

“Sorry ‘bout that.” He chuckled, his broad Caldislan accent heavy. “The name’s Gabe Barbarossa. Pleasure to be meetin’ you.”

“Mephilia Venus,” she replied, starting slightly at the man’s name. “Um… Would you happen to know a Hayreddin Barbarossa?”

“You mean my big brother? ‘Course I do! You must be knowing him from the Eternian Forces.” He placed both hands on his hips and chuckled again. “Aye, but I suppose I can’t be keeping you long to catch up on him. I have a boat to paint. Her maiden voyage to Eisenberg sets out tomorrow!”

“Eisenberg? Oh, I’m-”

“I presume the pretty lady would be requiring passage to the tectonic paradise? I use that phrase rather loosely, mind,” another voice cooed, and another man stepped from the ship, materialising from behind Hayreddin’s large younger brother. Though he was as bronzed by the sun, in comparison to the other man that stood before him, the distinction was quite massive. He was a head shorter, lean with a wiry strength about him. Clad in rich, lavishly decorated clothes and sporting a long, brown ponytail that he clearly treasured, it was as though the class system of the Caldislan sailor was a diagram in front of her.

She found herself struck rather speechless, for his face was one that she couldn’t simply draw her eyes away from. In a distant consciousness, she realised she was grinning like an idiot.

“I’m the captain of this ship,” he announced, taking her hand and kissing it. In any other instance, she would have punched him, but he was Caldislan and their customs were different. And besides, his hands were clean and his lips were so very soft. “Captain Suleiman.” He let go of her and performed a sweeping bow. “And I would be honoured to allow passage to Eisen for the stunning acquaintance of Hayreddin. Any friend of his is a friend of mine.”

A tiny voice in her head that sounded like Einheria told her she was being stupid for accepting. She ignored it. It turned out that was both a bad decision and the best she would ever make.

21\. Loss

“I’m sorry Mephilia, but I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do. It is lost, and you may never be able to conceive again. Though I will have to run some tests to-”

“Please stop talking…” Mephilia sobbed, curling up into a tight ball on the chair in the doctor’s office.

For the first time in all the twelve years they had known each other, Victor listened. He shut his office door and left her to weep, not saying another word. For over an hour, there was no noise besides her crying and the scratching of his pen nib on paper, no doubt filling out the reports on her medical examination. If it was possible to hurt even more than she already did, the fact that there would be a permanent record of this was the cause of it. She had been expecting this, of course. She knew something was very wrong. That was why she had gone against her stubborn beliefs and had seen a doctor… And yet, that didn’t help dull the pain. Though on the list of awful things that had happened to her recently, surprisingly this wasn’t the worst. This was just another dagger in an open wound.

Einheria had stopped talking to her. Artemia had been abandoned in a forest for a year and it was her fault for leaving her. Oh, and Suleiman was unreachable, sailing the globe to find something that had never been found before. Nothing. She had nothing.

“I have no family… And you’re telling me I cannot start one of my own…” she looked up at Victor who was staring at the paperwork solemnly.

“I’m sorry…” No he wasn’t.

She tried to sit up, but she was shaking. “I really don’t see the point… In living…”

“I’m not going to let you die, Mephilia.”

“Crystals, do you hate me that much!?”

“Let’s just say I have experience with those feelings and I know that it will get better.”

“How… Can you compare yourself… To me?” she asked between sobs, pulling her knees up to her face. “You and I are completely different.”

“In most ways, I would be inclined to agree. However…” he came to sit beside her. “If there is a force greater than us out there, they haven’t really given either of us much of a break. But I’m a sceptic who is selfish as they get and I… Things got better for me. You’re a good person. You did nothing wrong. If the spirits have forgiven me, they’re going to forgive you. Your life will get better.”

“You don’t believe in spirits, Victor. You just made that up…” she mumbled. Frankly, shock was registering somewhere in the absolute mess that was her emotional spectrum that he was actually attempting to be nice to her.

“This asterisk is named the spiritmaster for a reason.” He shrugged, fumbling with his tie.

“…Oh…”

There was a moment of silence. “As your doctor, I’m obliged to ask if there is anything else I can do for you?”

“…Destroy those… Those medical reports…” She knew he would refuse, but it was worth a shot.

Instead, he shocked her again. “I will… On one condition. Please talk to Einheria. She needs you as much as you need her right now. She loves you dearly, and she misses you. You’re both suffering for this business with your sister. Its better you don’t lose each other in your time of need.”

She managed to nod. It was better to try and patch things up with Einheria than to leave those convicting papers intact so that she may hate her even more. If Victor was willing to break the law for this, then he had to be serious.

As he burned the papers (he had originally suggested eating them in order to try and make her smile a little. She had thrown a cushion at him) she made an attempt to reflect on what he had said. It would be hard, but what harm could trying to get through it do? He was right: if the spirits hadn’t destroyed him, then surely they would shine favour on her too?

22\. Rodent 

The Grand Marshal had been growing restless, and was suddenly very much in a hurry to build up his forces. After he had announced, out the blue, that Victor and Victoria would be granted seats on the Council, posts had started being assigned to the other officers.

First, a collection of the most elite of soldiers would be sent to Eisenberg under the pretence of aiding the Swordbearers in the civil war. Mephilia’s friend, Barbarossa, who commandeered the naval force and could break solid stone and metal with his axe. Praline a la Mode, just fourteen years old, who had a siren’s voice that matched her academic mind. Konoe Kikyo, a girl who was trained by a master assassin (her adoptive mother) and knew one-hundred and one ways to kill a person with a knife. Dr. Qada, who could kill every person in the room with a droplet of his salves. Swordmaster Kamiizumi, the most skilled and adept swordsman Mephilia had ever met. Being able to talk to summons couldn’t compare to the military prowess the First Division possessed. It was not the group for her.

Nor was it the Khamer & Profiteur merchantry that had recently been erected in order to both keep an eye on the Wind Crystal and to form trade between the countries of Eternia and Anchiem. Together they could be great. Mephilia didn’t feel her mind was mathematical enough to keep up with the cunning mind of Erutus Profiteur, so she was not surprised that she wasn’t assigned to that division either.

However, she didn’t think she should stay in Eternia. The ones staying behind were the Council of Six. Though they were incredibly powerful swordsmen and mages, they needed to remain in Eternia to ensure the country did not collapse in the absence of the military. The Lord Marshal’s personal guard, Captain Heinkel, Holly, Barras and Crowe were also staying behind. Though the most rowdy and immature, they were also among the most fiercely loyal people in the duchy. She couldn’t relate.

Instead, Mephilia and her sisters, Valkyrie Einheria and newly appointed Ranger Artemia, would be deployed to Florem under Red Mage Fiore DeRosa. He was the head of the mostly female third division of the Eternian forces, the Bloodrose Legion. It took roughly half the flight to the land of radiant flowers for Mephilia to realise she did not like Fiore DeRosa.

In fact, she hated him.

DeRosa looked down on his subordinates, and it was very obvious that he didn’t think they were any more than mere tools, and that even the Venus sisters were expendable soldiers rather than officers. His flowery pet names didn't easily cover up the fact that he hadn’t bothered to learn anybody’s names, and they were just discomforting rather than charming. Mephilia had noticed that he watched people, like he was leering at them. Mephilia rued the day the Sage designed her asterisk wear with an open cleavage, because she could feel DeRosa’s eyes being drawn to it. It made her feel sick. After about a week in Florem, the three sisters all made the mutual decision to hurt him if he ever advanced on one of them. They needed to stick together more than ever.

23\. Darkness

Mephilia felt slightly under the weather. Perhaps it was the spring coming in? Did hay fever make you light headed? She would have to ask Einheria. There had been no news from Suleiman for a while as well, so perhaps it was worry? She needed to lie down and take some time away from her mission. Oh, but she was doing so well…

It was liberating… The screams of the tiny Flories as their wings were plucked… They glowed for a second and then nothing.

Nothing on Suleiman… They were saying the ship was lost… Barbarossa would get back in touch… She couldn’t place a name to that face anymore. She could barely remember her sister’s… Barely remember Suleiman… All she knew was that she loved him. Maybe he’d save her?

Everything was a blur and she could not see her hand in front of her. She vaguely remembered wearing glasses once, but she could not remember why she stopped. A letter had arrived. Who from the outside world would want to talk to her? Her hands shook as she opened it. Perhaps it was cold? What was the season now? She could not remember. Everything had gone dark and her head hurt. She could hear voices calling a name. Mephilia. She supposed it was hers. She stayed there, laying in a bed of flowers, tears streaking her face, crumpled letter in hands. Through the haze there was sorrow and the world seemed to stop moving. She could not bear to talk. Oh Suleiman… The one thing keeping her focussed on what was reality and what was not. There were people, calling out to her, asking if she was alright. Perhaps one of them was her sister? It did not matter. They did not really care. She began to laugh, despite herself.

_“Dear Mephilia, I regret to be the bearer of bad news, but I found the Funky Francisca. It was abandoned off the coast of Florem. I’m afraid every soul on board has been lost. In honour of Suleiman’s memory, I intend to find what he was looking for. I will not fail him, nor you. - H.B”_

Back to plucking Flories.

24\. Family

Everything was white. She supposed this was what dying was. White. The pain from where the strange boy had stabbed her was nearly all gone, and she supposed all the blood must have been dried up. Seeing that boy had stirred something in her. It was not human. There was something more to him. Everything went dark again and she supposed this was the end. It wasn’t too bad. Perhaps in the next life she’d see her sisters again?

White again, and she registered a distinct pounding in her head. Her arm felt strange, and there was no pain in her side at all now. Odd.

“Mephilia?” She had heard that voice before. She heard footsteps on tiles too. Odder still. A woman appeared over her, dressed in all white. Was she an angel, come to take her away? “Mephilia, can you hear me?”

“I can…” her throat felt scratchy and her voice was quiet. The woman smiled and Mephilia realised she recognised her if she squinted hard enough.

“Holly?”

“Welcome back Mephilia.”

Holly gently checked her over, and in that time Mephilia realised she wasn’t dying. The white was the sterile interior of a hospital. The weird feeling in her arm was a tube. Holly began to explain an awful lot that she could only just register. That she and Barras had been trailing the Vestal, undoing her destruction. That she had nursed Mephilia’s wounds, but she was so intoxicated by the poisons from the work she had been doing for DeRosa that she still needed serious medical help. They had brought her back to Eternia and had begun extracting them, though it would take a while to totally reverse the damage. Mephilia’s wooziness and light-headedness would last for a while. She must have dozed off mid-explanation, because that was all she could remember. When she woke up, Holly tried to coax food into her and assured her that she could see Einheria and Artemia tomorrow.

Her memory wasn’t quite intact yet, but Mephilia thought she would remember something as significant as seeing Einheria burst into tears. By that logic, this was the first time it had ever happened. Artemia was purring contently as the three sisters embraced one another.

“I promise I will never let this happen again… Never. I will never leave you two alone. I promise to protect you here, safe at home. That awful, awful place is in the past… I’m so sorry…”

“It’s okay,” Mephilia cooed softly and Artemia nudged Einheria’s arm affectionately with her head, not quite tall enough to join the hug proper. Mephilia felt her eyes sting. She gulped back a sob, not quite sure when the last time she had ever felt so genuinely happy was. A family. They were a family again, safe and sound.

No matter whether the joy she felt then lasted a day, a month or the rest of time, in the darkness of misfortune that was her life, she was so very grateful for these little specks of light.


End file.
